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Sols

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Document Dernière modification 15/03/2023
4 min read
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Les sols sont à la base de 90 % de l'ensemble de l'alimentation humaine et animale, des fibres et de la production de combustibles, et fournissent les matières premières des activités allant de l’horticulture au secteur de la construction. Ils sont essentiels pour la santé de l’écosystème: ils purifient et régulent l’eau et constituent le moteur des cycles des nutriments ainsi qu’un réservoir de gènes et d’espèces, soutenant la biodiversité. Il s'agit d'un puits de carbone mondial, jouant un rôle important dans le ralentissement potentiel du changement climatique et de ses conséquences. Par ailleurs, en conservant des traces de notre passé, ils représentent un élément important de notre héritage culturel.

Les sols sont toutefois soumis aux demandes continues, souvent contradictoires, de notre société. Leur capacité à fournir des services écosystémiques, en termes de production alimentaire, en tant que vivier de la biodiversité et en tant que régulateur des gaz, de l’eau et des nutriments, est donc sous pression. Les taux observés d’imperméabilisation des sols, d’érosion, de diminution de matières organiques et de contamination réduisent leur résilience ou leurs capacités à intégrer les changements auxquels ils sont exposés.

Pendant la durée d’une vie humaine, les sols peuvent être considérés comme une ressource non renouvelable. En tant que société, nous devons le gérer de manière durable pour en tirer profit. Malgré les activités qui dépendent du sol, il n’existe aucune législation à ce sujet au niveau de l’UE. À ce jour, contrairement à l’eau et à l'air, la protection des sols est abordée de manière indirecte ou dans le cadre de politiques sectorielles: l'agriculture et la sylviculture, l’énergie, l’eau, le changement climatique, la protection de la nature, les déchets et les produits chimiques. L’absence de politique cohérente sur les sols au niveau de l’UE se reflète également dans le manque de données harmonisées à ce sujet.

Néanmoins, les dix dernières années ont vu la réalisation de progrès dans l’élaboration des politiques et des efforts coordonnés en matière de données. La stratégie thématique en faveur de la protection des sols de la Commission européenne de 2006 souligne la nécessité de protéger les sols en tant qu’élément essentiel du développement durable. Au niveau mondial, les problèmes du sol sont abordés dans le cadre du concept plus large de dégradation des sols (jusqu’à présent limitée aux zones arides) par la convention des Nations unies sur la lutte contre la désertification (UNCCD). Plus récemment, la notion de protection des fonctions des sols a été intégrée dans le concept de neutralité en termes de dégradation des terres dans le cadre des objectifs de développement durable (ODD), comme convenu par l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies en 2015. Les ODD comprennent également des objectifs relatifs à la qualité et à la contamination des sols, ainsi qu’à la gestion des produits chimiques et des déchets. La mise en œuvre des ODD peut constituer un exemple important pour les mesures de protection des sols en Europe. Les efforts visant à harmoniser et à normaliser les informations sur les sols à l'usage du public se poursuivent en conséquence, tant au niveau mondial qu'au niveau européen.

L’AEE réalise des évaluations fondées sur des indicateurs thématiques liés à l’utilisation des terres et aux sols dans le cadre du groupe d'indicateurs thématiques sur l’utilisation des terres et les sols (série de LSI). La série de LSI comprend des indicateurs sur l’occupation des terres, l’imperméabilisation, la gestion des sites contaminés, l’humidité des sols, l’érosion des sols et la teneur du sol en carbone organique. Des indicateurs sur la fragmentation des terres et le recyclage des terres sont prévus. Les services Copernicus de surveillance des terres facilitent la mise à jour régulière de plusieurs de ces indicateurs. L’AEE publie également des évaluations ponctuelles sur des thèmes spécifiques liés aux sols, tels que l’utilisation efficace des ressources des sols dans les zones urbaines, ou les nutriments du sol ou bien les charges métalliques dans l'environnement..

En fonction du sujet abordé, l’AEE collabore avec ses collègues de la Commission européenne [notamment le Centre commun de recherche (JRC) et la DG Environnement], les représentants Eionet du centre national de référence pour l'occupation des terres et l'aménagement du territoire ou d’autres réseaux et experts européens. Parmi les partenaires au niveau mondial figurent: le secrétariat de l’UNCCD, le Partenariat mondial sur les sols, l’initiative GLII (Global Land Indicators Initiative - facilitée par le programme ONU-Habitat) et le programme des Nations Unies pour l'environnement.

Les travaux de l’AEE dans ce domaine thématique sont soutenus par les centres thématiques européens depuis 1996; le CET sur les zones urbaines, l'utilisation des terres et les sols (ETC/ULS), actif depuis 2014, soutient actuellement les travaux de l’AEE sur les sols. En 2007, les activités sur les données relatives aux sols ont été transférées au centre européen de données sur les sols au sein du JRC.

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Indicateurs connexes

Indicator Assessment
Archived
Land take Land take as a result of the expansion of residential areas and construction sites is the main cause of the increase in urban land coverage in Europe. Agricultural zones and, to a lesser extent, forests and semi-natural and natural areas are disappearing in favour of the development of artificial surfaces. This affects biodiversity since it decreases habitats and fragments the landscapes that support and connect them. Between 2006 and 2012, the annual land take in the European countries (EEA-39) assessed in the 2012 Corine land cover (CLC) project was approximately 107 000 ha/year. The figure for the 2000-2006 period was approximately 118 000 ha/year. In the 28 countries 1 covered by all three CLC assessment periods (1990-2000, 2000-2006 and 2006-2012), annual land take decreased by 10.5 % between 2000 and 2006, and by 13.5 % between 2006 and 2012. In absolute values, the annual land take in these 28 countries was 114 000 ha/year (1990-2000), 102 000 ha/year (2000-2006) and 98 500 ha/year (2006-2012). Between 2000 and 2006, more arable land and permanent crops were taken by artificial development than between 1990 and 2000, while fewer pastures and less mosaic farmland were taken over the same period. In fact, between 2006 and 2012, the types of land most taken for artificial development were arable land and permanent crops, followed by pastures and mixed agricultural areas.   1 The 28 countries covered by all three CLC assessment periods are AT, BE, BG, CZ, DE, DK, ES, EE, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, LV, ME, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, RS, SI, SK, TR and UK.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Imperviousness and imperviousness change Between 2006 and 2009, soil sealing, or imperviousness, increased in all EEA-39 countries by a total of 4 364 k m 2 . This corresponds to an annual average increase of 1 454 k m 2 , or 0.027 % of the total EEA-39 area. During this period, the rate of increase in soil sealing relative to country area varied from 0.001 % to 0.48 %. In 2009, the percentage of a countries' total area that was sealed also varied greatly, with values ranging from 0.15 % to 15.23 %. The highest sealing values, as a percentage of country area, occurred in small countries with high population densities, while the lowest sealing values could be found in large countries with low population densities. The most problematic situation occurs in countries where there is already a high percentage of sealing and where the annual rate of increase relative to country area is high.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Soil moisture Soil moisture content is already being affected by rising temperatures and changes in precipitation amounts, both of which are evidence of changes in climate. Since 1951, modelled soil moisture content significantly increased in parts of northern Europe and decreased in the Mediterranean region. Projections for 2021–2050 show a general change in summer soil moisture content over most of Europe, including significant decreases in the Mediterranean region and increases in the northeastern part of Europe. Maintaining water-retention capacity and porosity are important to reduce the impacts of intense rainfall and droughts, which are projected to become more frequent and severe. The modelled results are based on natural factors and disregard artificial drainage and irrigation practices.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Progress in management of contaminated sites Local soil contamination in 2011 was estimated at 2.5 million potentially contaminated sites in the EEA-39, of which about 45 % have been identified to date. About one third of an estimated total of 342 000 contaminated sites in the EEA-39 have already been identified and about 15 % of these 342 000 sites have been remediated. However, there are substantial differences in the underlying site definitions and interpretations that are used in different countries.   Four management steps are defined for the management and control of local soil contamination, namely site identification (or preliminary studies), preliminary investigations, main site investigations, and implementation of risk reduction measures. Progress with each of these steps provides evidence that countries are identifying potentially contaminated sites, verifying if these sites are actually contaminated and implementing remediation measures where these are required. Some countries have defined targets for the different steps.   Thirty of the 39 countries surveyed maintain comprehensive inventories for contaminated sites: 24 countries have central national data inventories, while six countries, namely Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany, Greece, Italy and Sweden, manage their inventories at the regional level. Almost all of the inventories include information on polluting activities, potentially contaminated sites and contaminated sites.   Contaminated soil continues to be commonly managed using “traditional” techniques, e.g. excavation and off-site disposal, which accounts for about one third of management practices. In-situ and ex-situ remediation techniques for contaminated soil are applied more or less equally.   Overall, the production sectors contribute more to local soil contamination than the service sectors, while mining activities are important sources of soil contamination in some countries. In the production sector, metal industries are reported as most polluting whereas the textile, leather, wood and paper industries are minor contributors to local soil contamination. Gasoline stations are the most frequently reported sources of contamination for the service sector.   The relative importance of different contaminants is similar for both liquid and solid matrices. The most frequent contaminants are mineral oils and heavy metals. Generally, phenols and cyanides make a negligible overall contribution to total contamination.   On average, 42 % of the total expenditure on the management of contaminated sites comes from public budgets. Annual national expenditures for the management of contaminated sites are on average about EUR 10.7 per capita. This corresponds to an average of 0.041 % of the national GDP. Around 81 % of the annual national expenditures for the management of contaminated sites is spent on remediation measures, while only 15 % is spent on site investigations. It should be noted that all results derive from data provided by 27 (out of 39) countries that returned the questionnaire, and not all countries answered all questions.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Land take Land take by the expansion of residential areas and construction sites is the main cause of the increase in the coverage of urban land at the European level. Agricultural zones and, to a lesser extent, forests and semi-natural and natural areas, are disappearing in favour of the development of artificial surfaces. This affects biodiversity since it decreases habitats, the living space of a number of species, and fragments the landscapes that support and connect them. The annual land take in European countries assessed by 2006 Corine land cover project (EEA39 except Greece) was approximately 108 000 ha/year in 2000-2006. In 21 countries covered by both periods (1990-2000 and 2000-2006) the annual land take decreased by 9 % in the later period. The composition of land taken areas changed, too. More arable land and permanent crops and less pastures and mosaic farmland were taken by artificial development then in 1990-2000. Identified trends are expected to change little when next assessment for 2006-2012 becomes available in 2014.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Soil erosion 105 million ha., or 16 % of Europe’s total land area (excluding Russia) were estimated to be affected by water erosion in the 1990s. Some 42 million ha. of land were estimated to be affected by wind erosion, of which around 1 million ha. were categorised as being severely affected. A recent new model of soil erosion by water has estimated the surface area affected in the EU‐27 at 130 million ha. Almost 20 % is subjected to soil loss in excess of 10 tonnes/ha./year. Increased variations in rainfallpattern and intensity will make soils moresusceptible to water erosion, with off-site effects of soil erosion increasing. Increased aridity will make finer-textured soils more vulnerable to wind erosion, especially if accompanied by a decrease in soil organic matter levels. Reliable quantitative projections for soil erosion are not available.
Indicator Assessment
Archived
Soil organic carbon Soil carbon stocks in the EU-27 are around 75 billion tonnes of carbon; around 50 % of which is located in Ireland, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (because of the large area of peatlands in these countries). The largest emissions of CO 2 from soils are due to conversion (drainage) of organic soils, and amount to 20–40 tonnes of CO 2 per hectare per year. The most effective option to manage soil carbon in order to mitigate climate change is to preserve existing stocks in soils, and especially the large stocks in peat and other soils with a high content of organic carbon. On average, soils in Europe are most likely to be accumulating carbon. Soils under grassland and forests are a carbon sink (estimated up to 80 million tonnes of carbon per year) whereas soils under arable land are a smaller carbon source (estimated from 10–40 million tonnes of carbon per year). The effects of climate change on soil organic carbon and soil respiration are complex, and depend on distinct climatic and biotic drivers. However, they lack rigorous supporting datasets. Climate change is expected to have an impact on soil carbon in the long term, but changes in the short term will more likely be driven by land management practices and land use change

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